San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and folks remoted in their properties, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his hands on a “miracle remedy,” according to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seaside Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” despite the medication turning into more and more scarce. However Staley had a way of getting it, he later told an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors stated.

Staley was sentenced final week to 30 days in prison and a yr of residence confinement for the scheme. He pleaded responsible last yr.

“On the top of the pandemic, before vaccines were available, this doctor sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman said in a information release. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the whole medical career.”

Staley’s legal professional did not immediately respond to requests for remark late Monday.

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to deal with covid-19 — and the consequences that adopted

Hydroxychloroquine is often prescribed to people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning within the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought on demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and in the end affecting those that wanted it for non-covid well being issues. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine is just not an efficient treatment for covid and didn't prevent people from becoming sick.

According to prosecutors, federal agents started looking into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class beauty improvements at reasonably priced costs,” court documents present, and supplied services including Botox, fat transfer, hair removing and tattoo removal.

The covid therapy package came with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional payment), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medicines, data show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired about the treatment equipment, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing remedy” that might maintain somebody immune from covid for no less than six weeks, in accordance with court records.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley mentioned to the spy, court docket paperwork show. “It’s laborious to imagine, it’s almost too good to be true. But it’s a exceptional medical phenomenon.”

He added that the virus “actually disappears in hours” after a person takes the drug.

When requested by the agent whether the medication was a “assured” cure for covid, Staley stated sure but certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are not any guarantees in life,” courtroom records present.

Throughout the call, Staley additionally informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “got the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records present, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “sweet potato extract.” He added that the powder was enough to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later offered the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and five family members — for $4,000, according to court docket paperwork.

A Florida man obtained hundreds of thousands in coronavirus aid. He used it to buy a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As part of his plea settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as considered one of his staff to fill a prescription for hydroxychloroquine to then use it in his kits, prosecutors said. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal agents through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to folks gripped in worry during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a information launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “Today, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a scam to make a fast buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 high quality and to give again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s equipment. He additionally needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical medication, multiple luggage of empty capsule capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

Based on information from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been temporarily suspended by a court order.